Hundreds protest outside Israeli embassy in Jordan over Jerusalem evictions

Hundreds of Jordanians protest the pending eviction of Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in front of the Israeli embassy in Amman.

Over seventy Palestinians in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood are set to be evicted in the coming weeks, to be replaced by right-wing Jewish Israelis. The Palestinians live in houses built on land courts say was owned by Jewish religious associations before the establishment of Israel 1948.

“A nation whose leader is Mohammad will not kneel,” protesters chant, referring to the most revered prophet in Islam. “We salute Sheikh Jarrah.”

Jerusalem has seen violent days as police and Palestinian demonstrators have clashed across the city. Both sides blame one another for inciting the confrontations.

“We are with the intifada,” protesters call out, using an Arabic-language term for uprising commonly associated with the Palestinian struggle against Israel. “God is Great.”

A potentially definitive hearing on the Sheikh Jarrah evictions was scheduled to take place tomorrow, but has been delayed by the Supreme Court.

Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1993. Most Jordanians are of Palestinian descent and many oppose the treaty.

A smaller solidarity protest against the planned evictions was held by Palestinians and their supporters in Berlin.